Temptation - Page 2

Frisky · 07-15-14, 03:45 AM

@ drumcrush, how many times have you taken in a snake against your better judgement, and then just make the best of a bad situation. I ask because you and I have exactly the same philosophy regards Snakes by the look of things.

sharthun · 07-15-14, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frisky

@ drumcrush, how many times have you taken in a snake against your better judgement, and then just make the best of a bad situation. I ask because you and I have exactly the same philosophy regards Snakes by the look of things.

Two of my snakes I actually rescued from Craigs List and one from a science class! They turned out to be awesome animals.

franks · 07-15-14, 09:13 AM

If you like the snake? Go for it. It looks undernourished because it has been stuck on fuzzies. Start him straight on hoppers at the smallest. The more developed the bone structure of the prey the more nourishing for your snake. A pinky is basically a bag of mouse breat milk and a fuzzy is sort of in between. I think the snake in the picture is a little more than 2' and I think he could handle a small mouse.

I have used Craigslist before as well. You have to be careful but you can get some nice animals there. I got my MBK off of a kid going to college via CL. Personally I would feel more comfortable buying an old class pet on Craigslist than from buying from a Craigslist breeder.

My opinion on this is do not buy him because he is convenient. You said there were a few shows coming up soon as well. If this is the local kingsnake you want go for it. If you still want to look at others, then wait a bit. You are going to want more than 1 eventually anyway lol.

Jackins · 07-15-14, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franks

If you like the snake? Go for it. It looks undernourished because it has been stuck on fuzzies. Start him straight on hoppers at the smallest. The more developed the bone structure of the prey the more nourishing for your snake. A pinky is basically a bag of mouse breat milk and a fuzzy is sort of in between. I think the snake in the picture is a little more than 2' and I think he could handle a small mouse.

I have used Craigslist before as well. You have to be careful but you can get some nice animals there. I got my MBK off of a kid going to college via CL. Personally I would feel more comfortable buying an old class pet on Craigslist than from buying from a Craigslist breeder.

That is the most fantastic description of a pinky that I am likely to ever see. The visual and the mouth-feel are going to leave me making weird faces for a good little bit.

I spoke more with the owner and have scheduled a day to meet so that I can at least take a look at the snake. If there's anything that puts me off then I'll walk away from it; the expo that I was planning to go to is only a little ways down the road from this guy. He's cute, and other than having questionable living conditions, which I can hopefully improve, I'd like more input. I've been watching the ad on CL almost since it was put up, so I think I'd best go and see what's what.

I picked up two more hides and a large water bowl today That tank will probably be tossed out or if possible, left with them as I've got a tub already. I just need the UTH and Thermostat to show up; should be here tomorrow, no later than Friday.

Will keep this updated as things pan out.

franks · 07-15-14, 01:44 PM

If your thermostat does not come in time you can pick up a lamp dimmer from a hardware store or home depot for $7. As long as you can accurately take temps you can set your hot spot up perfectly and cheaply with this. The variable that can throw the process off is if your room temps raise and drop significantly. My basement is 77*f during the heat of the day and about 72*f at night. 5*f raise and drop and my hot side temps have not fluctuated at all.

As far as the condition the snake was kept in: it's far from ideal but in terms of effecting your snakes long term health I don't think it's a huge deal. He was obviously pretty cramped in there. He may not have had heat, but kingsnakes do not need very high temps and we know that he has been under fed which could be a blessing if he had in fact no heat. If you see feces in the enclosure do not go crazy judging his health by them. If he is still getting pinks and fuzzies his stool can be a bit runny.

If you would like more input I would place a burrow - able substrate in there as soon as you observe a few regular bowel movements. Dom crush recommended this to me and my Kong loves burrowing. Apparently most do. If you get a few inches of that in there he can hide amywhere.

franks · 07-15-14, 01:53 PM

http://rs57.pbsrc.com/albums/g223/di...12.jpg~320x480

Periscope up! They can live under there.

Jackins · 07-15-14, 03:54 PM

My ambient temps are a pretty stable 76-77 here in bedroom where the snake will be hanging out. Humidity should be reasonable to, it seems to stay at about 53%. I definitely appreciate the info about the stool consistency as that would have likely caused panic.

Currently sorting out delivery routes with a sort of local breeder for f/t mice. Ordering from a larger distributor seems excessive at this point.

Joshchimera · 07-18-14, 02:02 AM

With some good feeding weekly and a nice heat source, that snake will thicken up and grow over a summer.

Jackins · 07-19-14, 03:04 PM

Look who's home!

franks · 07-19-14, 03:37 PM

Awesome! Good looking guy. Congrats.

Jackins · 07-19-14, 03:54 PM

Thanks!

He is super active and attentive. Apparently the reason for not having any sort of uth at his old place was due to him living on the back porch in the sun room. Didn't see any signs of mouth rot, excess mucus, or scale rot. Snake also doesn't seem to care about handling, though he doesn't like to let go.

He looks, really small though. I've no basis for judgement on feeder size. Are hoppers still the way to go with this guy? Trying to let him get acclimated at the moment. Here's another pic:

Yes, that mouse is way too big for him.

**EL Ziggy** · 07-19-14, 06:17 PM

Congrats on the new addition Jack. He looks great. I'm sure you'll give him a good home. Best wishes.

drumcrush · 07-19-14, 09:44 PM

Wow, gorgeous! Congrats and I wish you luck with the new one

sharthun · 07-19-14, 11:34 PM

Congrats! Beautiful King! Looks like he could hand a couple hoppers or even a small adult mouse.

Jackins · 07-20-14, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharthun

Congrats! Beautiful King! Looks like he could hand a couple hoppers or even a small adult mouse.

Thanks everyone. He seems to be settling in well. I'm just trying to get his temps to stop shifting so much. Ordered a hydrofarm which should be here by Tuesday since the stupid rheostat nor emergency lamp dimmer won't hold a temp at all.